Caltrain ridership jumped from 37,000 commuters to 43,000 between February 2011 and February 2012. That’s 5,000 more people riding. On-time performance dipped into the mid-90% range due, in part, to “passenger dwell time” (i.e. the time it takes to board passengers), resulting in some trains showing up a whopping 4 minutes late in San Francisco.

Let’s watch the transit-haters try to add 5,000 more cars to an already over-burdened Highway 101 and see what happens to traffic. On the train, increasing the passenger load 10% makes things a little uncomfortable but you still get to work on time. Adding only 2% more vehicles or taking lane space away by making vehicles 8% larger (read “SUVs”) can bring highway traffic to a dead stop. Mass transit is the only way to accommodate the 28% growth in Bay Area population and jobs anticipated over the next 20 years.

Caltrain is required to operate with a balanced budget. They cut train service last year to address budget shortfalls, but record ridership this year has resulted in overcrowded trains in spite of higher ticket prices. The annual ridership survey in February counted 43,000 daily train riders, up from 37,000 riders a year ago. Farebox revenue this year is up 24% over last year. A one-time grant and this increased revenue will allow Caltrain to add service beginning this fall.

The meeting will be held Wednesday, May 30, at 6 p.m. at the Caltrain administrative offices, 1250 San Carlos Ave., 2nd floor auditorium, in San Carlos. The JPB will also accept comments on the proposed schedule change Comments by June 8 via email ([email protected]), phone (1.800.660.4287) or mail (P.O. Box 3006, San Carlos, CA 94070-1306.

Monterey Salinas Transit hearings too

Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) recently completed a service analysis of Salinas, California and will hold a series public hearings on proposed service changes which MST says will improve on-time performance, convenience, and overall service quality. MST has not yet published information on the changes, but these routes will be affected: